Israeli Chinese

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The Chinese in Israel are mainly comprised of foreign workers in the construction sector. Many are of an illegal status. Their numbers has been estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

Chinese workers are in the worst situation of all the nationalities working in Israel since very few of them speak Hebrew or English, have no community in the country to help them - as most of the other nationalities have - and are totally at the mercy of their employers. If something is wrong with their visa, if they have been brought to do a job that they are untrained for, or if they try to leave an employer who ignores their rights, they are immediately liable to be deported.

There is evidence of Chinese workers paying as much as $15,000 just for the opportunity to get a visa to Israel and work there. This is usually paid by illegal loans to which family members are guarantors. It has been estimated that about 70 percent of those payments go to Israeli manpower companies.

Their intention is to work there for five years; in that time they will make about $60,000, which is a very large sum in the rural areas of China.

In many cases, Chinese workers are deported because of the misdeeds of their employer. An Israeli State Comptroller's report several years ago highlighted the situation whereby if an employer did not pay the requisite fees, his workers would be arrested as a sanction. If the employer was caught moving the workers to a different place than specified by their visas, the workers would be arrested and deported.

The Chinese government, which has recently begun taking a closer interest in the welfare of its citizens working in Israel, blames the local authorities in Israel for being uncooperative and for placing the workers' welfare at a low priority.

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